THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While the CPI is maintaining a studied silence on the raging Sprinklr controversy, its mouthpiece ‘Janayugom’ on Monday came out with an editorial underscoring the importance of data privacy. The article did not make a mention of the Sprinklr issue but its timing is seen as a reflection of the party’s resentment over the issue. “Data privacy and security are live topics of discussion in Kerala. How freedom, democracy, self-reliance and sovereignty can be protected in Kerala in the age of data economy deserves attention,” it said.
It said digital environment, data privacy and safety of information collected deserve utmost importance. “The availability and use of information will decide the control of wealth. Amazon, Google, and Facebook are classic examples of data economy. They have set up their industrial and commercial empires on the basis of the information they collected,” it said. “Controversies over the use of data for economic and political reasons by these companies is part of contemporary history.
Today, everyone recognises that information will control political developments. Those who do not have it will get erased from the political map,” it added. The editorial relates data privacy and data security with freedom, safety and sovereignty of individuals and society.
“Breach of personal data, wilfully or otherwise, will affect the government or organisation which collects it and the individual concerned,” it said. “There are frequent reports on data breach, illegal sharing and misuse. But data privacy and safety are yet to be dealt with the importance they deserve. Data privacy and security have a complementary existence,” it said.